The Dodgers defeated the Padres on Saturday night for a third straight game to open the 2012 season — and for a 13th time in 15 games dating back to last July 8.

At least the Padres made it interesting this time … or the Dodgers helped the Padres make it interesting.

Dodgers shortstop Dee Gordon snapped a 5-5 tie with a two-out single to right in the top of the 11th to give the Dodgers a 6-5 victory before 31,909 at Petco Park.

But the game might be better remembered for one of the more unusual innings in Padres history.

Down 5-0 going in the bottom of the fifth, the Padres tied the game with a five-run inning that included three straight bases-loaded walks and a run-producing wild pitch.

A hit didn’t figure in the scoring until Orlando Hudson tied the game with a line drive single to left, although Nick Hundley was tagged out in a rundown near the plate with the go-ahead run.

“I like the fact that we took balls and swung at strikes that inning,” said Padres manager Bud Black.

“They (the Dodgers pitchers) were in and out of the zone that inning and we didn’t help them. I liked the patience that was shown that inning when a couple pitchers were struggling. Our guys did a good job laying off a couple borderline pitches.”

The fifth marked only the second time in franchise history that the Padres drew three straight bases-loaded walks. The other time came on April 5, 1984, against the Pirates.

The fourth run scored on a wild pitch. It wasn’t until the fifth and game-tying run that a hit was involved in the scoring, although the inning did start out with a one-out single by Jason Bartlett — which was just the Padres’ second hit of the game.

The walkathon began with Dodgers starter Chris Capuano walking pinch-hitter Kyle Blanks, who was erased on a force play for the second out of the inning.

The next four Padres — Chris Denorfia, Chase Headley, Jesus Guzman and Hundley — all walked before Dodgers reliever Scott Elbert hit Yonder Alonso to reload the bases immediately after the Padres’ fourth run scored on a wild pitch.

The first bases-loaded walk was taken by Headley on a full-count pitch from Capuano. Jamey Wright then entered the game and issued consecutive, bases-loaded walks to Guzman and Hundley on eight straight pitches.

Enter Elbert, who did end a run of 11 straight balls thrown by Dodgers pitchers before he hit Alonso.

However, outside of the walk-fueled fifth, the Padres again did little offensively, getting only four hits for the game giving them a total of 12 hits (and 14 walks) for the season over 29 innings.

As a team, the Padres are hitting .126 with 27 strikeouts in 95 at-bats. They have yet to lead the Dodgers in any of the first three games and have collected more than one hit in an inning twice — including the fifth inning Saturday.

After the fifth, Dodgers relievers retired 18 of the last 22 Padres they faced — the Padres losing the game the same way the Dodgers won it.

In the Dodgers 11th, catcher A.J. Ellis led off with a single, was sacrificed to second and scored on a two-out single to right by Gordon.

Black was asked about pitching to Gordon with the winning run on second rather than walking the shortstop in favor of facing second baseman Mark Ellis, who was 0-for-5. Gordon was 3-for-4 for the game with a double, two walks, three stolen bases and two RBI.

“Ellis is a pretty good experienced hitter,” said Black. “Dee Gordon is a young player. I was pitching to Gordon. Ellis is a solid player.”

In the Padres’ 11th, Bartlett drew a leadoff walk and was sacrificed to second. But Cameron Maybin struck out and Chris Denorfia hit a topper back to closer Javy Guerra to end the game.

“After we scored the five runs, we couldn’t break though,” said Black. “We couldn’t mount a threat against the Dodgers bullpen.

“We’re off to a little bit of a slow start offensively. Hopefully some guys spin out of it quick. When it happens the first three games of the season, it is magnified to a point. If it happens in June, you don’t notice it as much.”

It’s clearly noticeable now, however. Alonso’s single in the second was the first hit by a Padres infielder or catcher, ending a 0-for-33 run.